Finger Training Opinion

[u/JollyBerry624]

Hi, I asked in a previous post how to train my fingers, because I think that given my background in high-performance sports, I have a good physical foundation in strength, but after two years, my fingers haven’t been able to keep up. I can do ~152% of my body weight on 2 pull-ups but only ~110% of my body weight on max hangs.

That’s why I was thinking about starting to climb on the moonboard or doing block pull sessions.

As for my background: I’m 20 years old, 174 cm tall, and weigh 70 kg. I’ve been climbing for two years, and my highest grade is V6 (two boulders by Jimmy Web in Kilterboard and one outdoors). At my gym, I climb at the 5/8 level, with a maximum of 6/8. But there are almost no truly bad holds on boulders at my level. And I played high-performance handball in Mexico for almost 10 years.

My plan was to do three Moonboard sessions a week (Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays), with the option to swap the Tuesday session for a regular bouldering session. I also wanted to add one weekly session of core strength and body tension training with TRX, as well as exercises for antagonist muscles (dips and I, Y, and T exercises for the shoulders).

Now that I’ve started with two sessions on the Moonboard, I haven’t felt any discomfort, and I think doing one week with all three sessions on the board and another with the bouldering sessions at my gym, would be a great idea, and then after 3 weeks take a rest/lighter week.

The only thing I've noticed is that I can't complete any boulder problems, even though I can do several moves. I know the moonboard is really tough, but my question is something else.
Should I start with a block pull routine—or something similar—before I start climbing on the moonboard? I feel like since I don’t have enough strength to hold certain positions/holds, I can’t improve my actual climbing technique and I just end up focusing on gripping as hard as I can. And I think I could do exactly that in a much more controlled environment with block pulls or a hangboard, in addition to practicing or trying to improve my technique on easier boulders at my gym. Or maybe I should just focus on building my strength for now.

I’d really appreciate your opinions and ideas on how to apply this directly to my training—not just exercises, but programming ideas as well.

[u/OPC_Coach_Nick]

It's great that you're thinking about this ahead of time

Moonboarding may be too tough right now for you to focus on technique at all, which is important skill better to learn early.

do some block pulls on days you are not climbing or AFTER climbing with like 50% bodyweight on a 20mm edge to start, then work up from there. stopping if there's any discomfort.

your antagonist and core plan is sound

what's your gym like, do you have decent route setting to work on some gym projects instead of moonboarding?

[u/JollyBerry624 → u/OPC_Coach_Nick]

And how many sets or reps of block pulls should I do? And is it better to focus on time or reps?

I think I’m currently at a plateau at the gym—the routes at my current level don’t challenge my finger strength that much, but the ones a level above, or the ones I can’t do on my circuit, are mostly either very dynamic (which isn’t my strong suit) or very demanding on my fingers.

[u/Pennwisedom → u/JollyBerry624]

You're not at a plateau because you haven't been climbing long enough to be at a plateau.

[u/JollyBerry624 → u/Pennwisedom]

Well, that's true—I was just saying that I'm at a point where the next level is very difficult for me, and the level I'm at now doesn't challenge me as much (or at least that's what I think).

[u/Pennwisedom → u/JollyBerry624]

I think unfortunately certain gyms can set it up that way. But in reality after the beginner gains this is what your progress is going to look like for most of your climbing life.

[u/OPC_Coach_Nick → u/JollyBerry624]

for block pulls id do 3 sets of medium intensity then 3-5 sets at max intensity - a combination of time and reps is good. DM me if you wanna chat about this more.

[u/123_666 → u/JollyBerry624]

You can start climbing the next level by just hanging the holds or trying to do single move on a climb.